Citi Advance, a personal-loan unit under Citicorp Leasing (Thailand), aims to extend 5-10% more personal loans this year, with five new loan products to be launched, says Vira-anong Phutrakul, chairman of the board of Citicorp Leasing (Thailand).

The new special-purpose loans - medical and beauty, home improvement, education, vacations and weddings - will cater to consumers' needs at every stage of life.

The new products are based on the company's recent survey on consumers' needs. Most of them require financial support for daily spending, business startups, medication, education, home improvement and family-bonding activities such as wedding and vacations, she said.

"Rising interest rates and inflation have not affected our client base. In fact, there has been strong loan demand since the beginning of the year supported by the improving economy," she said.

She added that the new products' convenience would help facilitate the company's overall loan growth as well.

Mrs Vira-anong said the average income of its client base was around 20,000 baht a month.

Since the purchasing power in the market segment is quite strong, the customers are unlikely to be sensitive to increases in interest rates.

Currently, the bank charges interest rates from 19% to the official maximum limit of 28% per year.

She said the company planned to open five to seven new branches this year in both Bangkok and other provinces, mostly in community areas and shopping malls. Currently, it has 40 branches of which 12 are in provincial areas.

Last year, the bank saw its personal-loan portfolio grow by 3.1% from a year earlier despite a decline of 11.5% in the entire industry, which stood at 187 billion baht.